Thursday, February 22, 2018

Intense Orange Julius

Years ago when my friend, Cara Sue, married I hung out at her house most weekends. I think I'm the one who started us on Orange Julius drinks, one of our many snacks. Ahh youth, we were thin as rails, and I remember making them with 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream and 1/4 cup of sugar! Once in a while I added some rum or Bourbon, but mostly not. Without the alcohol, the drink tastes like an old fashioned orangesicle ice cream treat. Remember those? Packaged in a round paper cylinder on a stick, you ate the sherbet-like dessert by pushing it up beyond the cylinder and licking it as it melted. In those days, we ate ice cream without a thought. Nowadays I make a reduced calorie Julius.Here is the still rich, organgey, creamy and delicious recipe:Orange JuliusIngredients:

1 cup skim milk1 teaspoon vanilla extract6 ounce can frozen orange juice concentrate (I buy orange juice with pulp. Why pulp free?)1-2 tablespoons sugar or Steevia (Sweeten to taste. I can drink it without any sweetener. Try it plain first.)About 1 1/2 cups iceDirections:Toss everything into a blender using about 1/2 of the ice. Blend, then add the rest of the ice and blend until the ice is crushed.A refreshing icy drink in the summer. An infusion of vitamin C in the winter.Extra tip: Feel free to use 6 oz of pineapple concentrate to make Pineapple Julius also. For parties, you can serve both! Single serving: If I make an Orange or Pineaple Julius for one, I scoop out only 1/3 of the concentrate from the can (return the rest to the freezer), then reduce the milk to 2/3 of a cup and ice to about 1/2 of a cup + eyeball a couple of drops of vanilla. Enjoy!You may also enjoy:Refreshing Bourbon SlushHomemade Vanilla Extract Easy Homemade LemonadeKnow Your Body Mass Index This Holiday Season

You are most welcome, Trish! Easy, healthy and will satisfy a sherbert/ice cream craving. Right up those-of-us-who-wish-to-avoid-weighing-300-pounds' alley. Last night I ate a sandwich, baby carrots and strawberries, but felt like I needed a little more dinner. So this was the satisfying finisher.

As I write this, I am in (mostly) sunny Florida where I've been able to get fresh squeezed OJ. You can make a great variation on this with some vanilla yogurt- in a blender (or food processor) and it tastes great and gives you plenty of vitamin C. Of course, in the evenings, you can add some vanilla vodka to whatever concoction you are making. One more hint- any thing orange- mixed with some blue dye (daytime) or Blue Curacao (evenings) will make a fun green drink.

Dearest Debra,Well, at those days we all could eat and drink what we liked.I've always loved vanilla ice-cream and could eat a huge amount of it and loved it with blackberries...Since 2007 when I got diagnosed with diabetes type 2, never done again.Also the fruit juices are all too high in sugar so there is not much left other than natural fruits and their juice.Sounds like a great recipe though.Fond memories of your best friend...Hugs,Mariette

Mariette, I'm sorry you have this extra worry, but the positive is, likely your diet is super healthy. You know, I don't eat many processed foods anymore. But, I could eat french fries and chips until they came out of my ears. I don't let myself, or I would weigh 200 pounds! And a little of sugar goes a long way. I don't crave sugar like I do salt, fried fat (bacon!) and cheese. Give me two Scotch eggs for breakfast and I'm in heaven!

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